Business Analytics

Sink or Swim for Oil and Gas Industry: Understanding the Role of Data Science and AI in the Future

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According to a global market research and analytical firm, the Oil and Gas drilling economy makes up for close to 3% of the global economy. It is evaluated anywhere between $75 trillion to $90 trillion. Clearly, oil remains the most prized commodity in the energy sector and therefore, we found it very interesting to actually evaluate the role of AI and data science in this industry. Tipping the scale over with AI has been the norm for most sectors, but for Oil and Gas drilling companies, it’s a rather vicious ecosystem. Only a handful of professionals from Data Science Course are actually leaning towards making a career in the oil sector.

This article will help you identify valuable opportunity in the oil gas sector that has been revived with some really exciting AI and Data Science developments.

Enterprise AI for Oil and Gas is Marginally Different from Other Sectors

It’s a game of data and analytics in any industry. Quicker the company manages to scale its data aggregation and analytics for various Operations, faster would it be its revenue generation. AI in Oil gas industry is creating new opportunities through digital transformation of the entire value chain, starting right from identifying oil fields to designing drilling tools through the sea bed.

Recently, GE Company’s subsidiary – Baker Hughes partnered with an Enterprise AI provider, C3.ai to accelerate its digital transformation, combining the power of AI and Data Science with Oil Gas technology expertise. The major focus is on the preventive maintenance that cost companies billions of dollars every year. Using C3’s predictive analytics and AI capabilities, Baker Hughes is expected to further improve their core oil gas operations globally and serve customers better.

Investing Millions into AI Research? But, Are Results Satisfying!

Partnered with MIT, global leader in Oil gas industry, ExxonMobil is spearheading its AI mission for Ocean exploration. It is already a leader in AI-enabled ocean exploration and submerged vehicle technology that could transform the way oil is drilled from the ocean, sans human intervention. According to speculations, ExonnMobil may have invested close to $80 million in various AI research and academia. Similarly, BP             made a significant investment into a Houston based AI start-up, Belmont Technology to boost adoption of Neural Networking and Data Science algorithms for creating unique ‘knowledge graphs’.

Investing millions is not enough – clearly, we may want to see Data Science courses aligned to operational challenges faced in the Oil and Gas industry. AI should be able to handle and answer some of the perennial challenges that the industry has been facing for decades.

Where should the Industry Make the Move?

Oh, well! The revolution has already begun. Recently, UK Oil and Gas Authority (UK OGA) announced the full-fledged operation of their Oil and Gas National Data Repository (NDR) to build a sustainable Data science ecosystem in the industry. With trillions of data points to analyze, OGA is expected to hire thousands of AI analysts in the next two years.

What would be their roles?

Well, these AI scientists and analysts will be creating hundreds of AI modules to study NDR and support OGA in digitally transforming Oil and Gas exploration and Supply programs, enabling higher production capacity and a much reduced cost of operations.

From controlling CARBON footprints to optimizing storage and inventory capacities, NDR would allow OGA and other participants to fully leverage data science for economic growth in the region.

 Will chatbots be a norm here too!!

Hard to say, at least for the top players in the industry, Yes, big companies such as Shell have already invested millions ($1.014 billion, to be exact) in their research and development programs. While we are yet to dive into their AI opportunities, it is clear that Shell is planning to expand its Oil and gas expertise to next level of customer experience using chatbots, real-time analytics and carbon control.

From managing invoice to sending samples in AR VR packages, Data Science applications could usher a new era in Oil gas industry that seems to be so far lagging in the Industrial Revolution 5.0. Times change, and with AI, rather dramatically.

3 Comments

  1. Dwipanita Sarkar Reply

    Looking great work, I really appreciated to you on this type of quality work. Nice post!

  2. ExcelR is a good place to start a career in data science certification

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